Public Audit Committee

Meeting date: Thursday, June 16, 2016

Official Report 309KB pdf

Work Programme

Agenda item 4 is consideration of the committee’s work programme. With summer recess fast approaching, we have time for just one more meeting, which will be on Thursday 30 June. The committee is invited to agree items of business for that meeting.

A number of reports produced by the Auditor General for Scotland either were published too late for our predecessor committee’s consideration or have been published since. The reports are listed in the relevant paper. The practice of the previous committee was to receive briefings from the Auditor General on the majority of her reports in advance of agreeing what, if any, further action to take. It will of course be for us to develop our own approaches in due course.

In the meantime, however, I suggest that we might want to use the time on 30 June to receive briefings from the Auditor General on two of the reports, “Common Agricultural Policy Futures programme: an update” and “Changing models of health and social care”, both of which raise serious concerns. Are you content to take that approach for our second meeting?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you.

At this point, I welcome to the committee Jenny Gilruth MSP, who has just joined us. As the rest of us have declared our interests, I invite Jenny to do so herself.

I have none to declare, other than those that have already been declared for the public register.

Thank you.

The usual practice for committees at the start of the session is to hold a business planning day towards the end of the summer recess to discuss their work programme, work practices and the predecessor committee’s legacy papers and to receive informal briefings. Are you content to hold a business planning day at the end of August or the start of September? If so, are you content for the clerks to bring a draft programme for the business planning day to our next meeting and to contact you about possible dates?

Members indicated agreement.

I want to make just one point, convener. I think that most of the parliamentary groups hold their own meetings round about the same time, and I wonder whether the clerks can check with the representatives of those groups, as well as with the other committees, to make sure that we do not have any clashes.

I think that that would be good. I ask the clerks to liaise with the business managers. Thank you for the suggestion.

That brings our first, and very short, meeting of the Public Audit Committee to a close.